A history of City managers...

6-1-1957 through 8-15-1959 - Ivan P. Oliver - First City Manager
9-15-1959 - John F. Lee - City Manager
6-16-1980 to 2-15-1994 - James J. Miller - City Manager
Denny Arnold was appointed Interim City Manager on March 1, 1994, to replace James
Miller. Council appointed him as City Manager October 4, 1994
10-1-2006 – Charles E. Windwehen – City Manager

2 years for the first city manager
21 years for the second
14 years for the third
12 years for the fourth
4 years for the fifth
(All years roughly calculated)

I cannot tell if any of them where fired or not, but for 3 out of 5 of them,the position seems to "until they get tired of it".

http://www.victoriatx.org/pdfs/histor...

one of the good things about the city manager not being elected is the fact that they can be fired without a special election or recall election.

victoria has a history of its mayors thinking they have more power than they actually do.

i was really disappointed in the choices for mayor this go-round. it was too late for me to throw my name in the hat, when i found out.

Oops! I just realized that I left out an important part. By making the city manager mayor, the mayor's job would, of course, be elective. I kinda like the idea of the people voting for the person who is gonna actually run things and have the responsibility for city departments. I don't like the idea of the really important job being appointive.

Sigh...I do understand the difference. I just think that if we're gonna have a mayor, he/she ought to do something other than cut ribbons, kiss babies and get indicted along with the police chief. It seems to me that we could get along very nicely without one or the other. Right now, my preference would be to put the present mayor on the council and change the job description of the city manager to mayor and let the new mayor kiss the babies as well as do the important stuff. It's just me, though. The fewer politicians, the better.

"Okay, that works for me, too. I've just never experienced that one before. It just seems to me that with a mayor AND a city manager, ONE of them is superfluous."

Not if you understand the Mayor, under our charter, is just window dressing. He's the guy who gets to dress up and cut the ribbons and kiss babies. He has no power. The City Manager does. There is no comparison. The City Manager does all the heavy lifting while the Mayor gets the photo-ops.

Okay, that works for me, too. I've just never experienced that one before. It just seems to me that with a mayor AND a city manager, ONE of them is superfluous.

how about scrapping the mayor position? i lived in a town that had council members but no mayor.

EdithAnn..."The City is run by a City Manager, not the Mayor.
I understand that what you see seems contrary to that, but that's what we've got. "

Uh huh, I know that. I wasn't asking HOW the city is run. I asked if anyone had given thought to CHANGING the charter. I grew up in a town about he size of Victoria and it didn't have a city manager. Seemed to work well and there was one less highly paid position that didn't need to be filled. The mayor was the chief executive officer and handled the administrative functions.

Article I, Section 2 - General powers of municipality, separation of legislative and executive functions:
.... The executive functions of the City shall be administered by the Chief Executive Officer who shall be known as the City Manager and who shall execute the laws and administer the government of the City of Victoria.

Article II, Section 8 - Mayor's power in relation to City Council:
The Mayor shall preside at all meetings of the City Council and shall be recognized as head of the City government for all ceremonial purposes, for receiving services of civil process on the City, and for military purposes. The Mayor, as a member of the City Council, shall be entitled to vote upon all matters considered by the City Council, but shall not have power to veto any action of the City Council.

Article III, Section 1 - City Manager as Chief Executive officer:
The City Manager of the City of Victoria shall be head of the administrative and executive affairs of the City and shall be designated and known as the City Manager, who shall be elected by the City Council. The City Manager shall be a person qualified by training, experience, and ability to perform executive and administrative functions and duties in municipal governmental affairs. ....

Article III, Section 2 - Duty and power of City Manager:
It shall be the power and duty of the City Manager of the City of Victoria:
(a) To appoint and remove all appointive officers and employees of the City, except....
(c) To recommend to the City Council for adoption or repeal such measures, resolutions, and ordinances the City Manager may deem necessary or expedient;
(d) To keep the City Council fully advised as to the financial conditions and needs of the City;
(e) To prepare and submit to the City Council the annual budget and supplements thereto; and
(f) To perform such other duties as may be required by ordinance or resolution of the City Council.

Article III, Section 3 - Freedom of City Manager from interference by City Council:
It shall be unlawful for the City Council or any of its members to dictate to the City Manager the appointment of any person to office or employment, except with respect to those positions filled by appointment by the City Council under the provisions of this Charter, or in any manner interfere with the City Manager in the performance of the duties of that office, or....

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City Code: http://library.municode.com/index.asp...

Edith,
A civics lesson makes for a dry news story, but I agree it's important. I recommend this link for those who want to read up on the manager-council form of government:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council%...

WWW--read up on the Victoria City Charter.

The City is run by a City Manager, not the Mayor.
I understand that what you see seems contrary to that, but that's what we've got.

Perhaps the Advocate could do us all a favor and provide a civics lesson here and explain how our City is run. Who is responsible for what and who is in charge. How the Mayor's position is a sort of ceremonial one--ribbon cuttings, proclaimations, etc., with no more power granted to him than any other City Council member.

I'm just wonderin' here, you know. Has anyone given any thought to changing the city charter to ELIMINATE the position of City Manager altogether? I mean, we HAVE a mayor and city council who are supposed to run the city. Other cities seem to get along just fine without a manager to do the mayor's job; why not Victoria? I'm just wonderin'.

She had established her professional reputation before she married, and certainly well before she became the Deputy City Manager. Many professional women do that.

EdithAnn-

Does not make a difference in the world as far as I'm concerned, just curious why she doesn't use her married name seeing this is such a high profile public office......

UgottaBkidin--

She is. Does that make a difference?

I have heard that Charmelle Garret is married.

Halepaska, like Armstrong, let their mouths overload their southern ends by not being able to correctly choose words..

Please, please, please go out and get somebody that is realistic, has fresh ideas, and has experience managing a city that has a track record of fiscal responsibility, combined with innovative ways to refurbish an old run down city and one that has a proven record on how to attract young families, professionals, and how to clean up a horid infrastructure (with a functional method to do so). YOU HAVE TO START FRESH! Clean house if that 's what it takes, but get somebody in here that has a clue on how to run a city the right way! The tax payers beg of you.

Charles Windwehen has been an outstanding city manager and public servant. He never missed a beat when Susan, his first wife, died so tragically, even though he was heartbroken. I am happy to see him retire at this relatively young age and enjoy life with his new wife. He deserves happiness and free time. Victoria owes him a great debt.

"Halepaska has said Windwehen has enough vacation that he won't have to work after late September or early October. He said the city could limp along with Deputy City Manager Charmelle Garrett, 50, until February or it could hire a new manager before then."

If the city is going to "limp along" without Windwehen, does this mean that Halepaska doesn't feel Charmelle Garret is capable of handling the position as City Manager?